


Wedding Night

by SocialPermaDeath



Category: Dune - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialPermaDeath/pseuds/SocialPermaDeath
Summary: The Atreides heir is arranged to marry Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen whether either of them likes it or not.
Relationships: Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen/Piter de Vries, Paul Atreides/Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Wedding Night

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to cope fic that I wrote while holed up in a treatment center. It's still a work in progress but hopefully some part of this premise was worth writing. At the very least, I had fun.
> 
> For the sake of this fic, I've decided, just based on my interpretation of the books, that mentats can sometimes, if tradition dictates it, wear some kind of modesty garb akin to desert robes that covers most of their face. What can I say? I just love desert robes.

The wedding had been planned since before he was born. As soon as the house of Harkonnen had an heir on the way, it was decided that the next Baron would marry the Duchess. Feyd-Rautha didn’t pay much attention when his uncle rambled on about his nephews’ future. When it was decided that he would ascend before his brother, he started listening more in regards to what his duties might be. He knew that he would have to take the Atreides heir as his wife although he was in no way bound to actually care for her. He knew that the marriage would be entirely political and that aside from any initial customary meetings, he didn’t have to spend any time with his future wife. The first few days after the wedding would be spent together, sure, getting to know each other, probably consummating the marriage should either family require proof, but after that it would be like any other political wedding; loveless and distant. This fact didn’t bother the young Harkonnen, it was all part of his job as the next Baron.

What did bother him at least a little was how under wraps the Atreides family kept their firstborn. She never left the castle, purportedly staying inside to attend to her studies as a royal heir and aside from portraits of her as an infant, there were no images of the Lady Atreides. Feyd-Rautha worried initially that the lady was possibly ugly but rumors of her mother’s beauty dissuaded those fears quickly. Perhaps the Atredies family didn’t want their Harkonnen rivals to see their daughter before she was wed. It was a fair worry, many heirs were assassinated by rival families so keeping their daughter safe in the castle until she was wed to the enemy would ensure she never fell to such a ghastly fate.

Eventually, the Atredies heir was old enough to wed, 18 to Feyd’s 19 years. She traveled with her guards to the Harkonnen castle, her mother and father a few days behind, set to arrive on the morning of the wedding.

“Will I have the pleasure of finally seeing this Atredies heir before I am set to be wed? Or is Duke Leto sticking to old traditions?” Feyd asked Piter.

“Whether you get to see her before your wedding or not, you two are already wed. The deed was done as soon as you were chosen as your uncle’s heir. Don’t think you have any say in the matter if you decide to back out. Whether you sit still for the vows or not, you will marry the Atreides heir.” Piter remarked. “So, I suggest you brace yourself for anything that might come. I’ve heard rumors that might unsettle you.”

“Mentats aren’t supposed to play with something as fickle as rumors.” Feyd sent a sharp glance towards the wild haired servant.

“Still, I do find I enjoy them.” Piter chuckled.

The door to Feyd’s chambers unlatched slowly. The man who entered was an Atreides guard dressed in a formal uniform.

“I present The Heir Apparent to the Atreides House. May we enter?” The guard asked, bowing cordially. The pomp and circumstance was all very… Atreides.

“Yes, come in.” Feyd smiled politely. The figure who followed was wrapped in the house colors, a veil over their face.

“The Atreides heir is a mentat?” Feyd whispered to his own servant. The distinctive veil was old fashioned but unmistakable.

“It’s not impossible for a member of a great house to become a mentat. Although I will note it’s rare for it to be an heir apparent. Perhaps the veil is just for modesty’s sake and not to signify any capabilities.” Piter offered.

“Lady Atreides, it’s wonderful to finally meet you.” Feyd tried his best to smile at the enemy that would soon be family.

“It’s Marquis Atreides,” the figure spoke, voice young but clearly male.

“Excuse me?” Feyd felt caught off guard.

“I am Marquis Atreides, Paul Atreides, heir to the house of Atreides.” He unclipped his veil easily. “Did your mentat not warn you?” The man behind the veil certainly looked like an Atreides.

“As I said, there were rumors.” Piter replied. “But my prediction was sound, there was a 99.99% chance that Lady Jessica would bear a daughter.”

“I guess even the greatest mentats get a few things wrong...” Feyd-Rautha clenched his jaw tight. “And your family chose not to disclose the sex of their heir because?”

“Because the marriage had been arranged since before either of our births. There would be no use in telling you or the baron that Duke Leto had born a son, there was nothing either family could do about it.” The marquis gave a careful smile, as if he was taking delight in the Harkonnen’s confusion. “By my calculations, if my family had sent word, I would have surely been assassinated to prevent the dishonor of a Harkonnen man wedding a male Atreides.”

“The Marquis is correct, we would have sent someone to get rid of him to spare you the embarrassment.” Piter nodded a little. “Of course, we could have him killed now but this close to the wedding, with reunification of the families so close, it would almost certainly start a civil war.”

“So what shall we do, Marquis Atreides?” Feyd leaned back into his chair and chewed his lip nervously.

“What else can we do but go on with the wedding?” The heir shrugged. “I’m as unhappy about this as you, but I think we can find the silver lining to this predicament.”

“Can the Marquis and I speak in private for a moment?” The Harkonnen ushered his mentat away.

“I’ll be back when you’re done. Fair warning, he is armed and quite capable should you try anything.” The mentat disappeared behind a curtain that led into the twisting servants passages. The Atreides guards also dispersed when their master gave them a signal.

“You really expect me to agree to this?” The Harkonnen asked when they were finally alone.

“Yes, I predicted it even.” Paul dropped his hood and smoothed his straight black hair.

“Do you have any idea what that could do to my family name? For a Harkonnen to sodomize himself to the male heir of the Atreides family?” Feyd-Rautha fidgeted restlessly.

“On the contrary, it would strengthen your image considerably.” Paul took a few steps closer. “You, Harkonnen, value brutality and strength, I, on the other hand value whit and intelligence. My culture finds no shame in homosexuality so it doesn’t wound me to portray myself as the one who will be sodomized. To the public, I will appear a delicate young man for the Harkonnen heir to dominate, you will come out on top, so to speak.” Paul stifled his own laugh.

“But I’m not like you, I don’t have any male concubines. Call me a traditionalist but I keep the company of women.” Feyd-Rautha’s eyes darted away to look at the wall.

“So that mentat who just left… I suppose I could be wrong but I rarely am when it comes to these sorts of things. I can smell it in the air, Harkonnen, you keep mixed company though not always in public.” The younger man pulled up a chair and seated himself across from the baron’s nephew. “Think of this as an opportunity to prove your virility, to show to the public that you can take one of us delicate Atreides and break us in your powerful grasp.”

“And what of your people? Will they not see you as weak for submitting?” Feyd-Rautha asked, eyes darting back to the mentat-heir so casually reclined in his quarters.

“They will see me as cunning, capable of knowing when to keep the peace even at the expense of my own comfort. They will respect me for doing my duty to my family.” Paul’s blue eyes pierced into Feyd’s heart.

“But there will be no actual submitting,” Feyd posited.

“Unless the need arises, we will most likely part ways after the wedding. I will continue to live here, of course, but you don’t need to see me if you don’t want to.” Paul replied, smiling.

“Unless the need arises...” Feyd mumbled to himself. “I suppose there’s nothing else we can do right now.”

“Of course, I’ll make my way to the quarters your uncle selected for me. You can of course call on me at any time should you want to discuss all of this further, otherwise, I believe our wedding is at the end of the week.” Paul smoothed his cloak and redressed in his veil before whistling for his guards. “I will do all in my power to preserve your image, don’t worry.”

“Piter,” Feyd called, once the Atreides and his dogs had left the room. “I know you’ve been listening from behind the curtain. I need your predictions.”


End file.
